Asset Series 8: Chloe, Interrupted
by shadowglove
Summary: Sequel to Little Miss Muffet. Lois is back, Dean and Chloe are keeping their relationship a secret, and now the person Chloe fears the most is loose and after her. When the blonde is sent somewhere to be safe, she meets someone who is supposed to play a big part in the future. Are these coincidences, or is someone pulling the strings?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own Smallville/Supernatural

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><p>"Chloe, I'm fine."<p>

"You're black and blue." She wanted to cry as she stared down at her battered… Dean. When Dean hadn't come back for an hour after having gone to get everyone food she'd grown worried, especially when he didn't answer her texts (he was 'too cool' to text people unless it was her). She'd worried that a ghost or a demon or some sort of supernatural baddie had gotten to him. It'd never crossed her mind to consider that a drunk driver might be the reason he'd be in a hospital one day.

"I look worse than it feels," he tried.

"Liar." And yet her voice was soft as she reached down and kissed his forehead. "They have you on morphine and all other sorts of stuff." She closed her eyes. "I hate this."

"Not more than me." He cupped the back of her head and pressed their foreheads together. "I'm okay, babe."

Her eyes flew open as a dark blush covered her face. He'd never called her that before. It used to be just "kid" and then he'd stopped doing that too. She liked this one much better.

"And here I was told you were gravely injured," a voice grumbled from the doorway.

Chloe turned to see John Winchester (flanked by Bobby) standing in the doorway. This was the first time in months that they'd seen him face to face. After Lois had joined them he'd called in and they'd basically had a phone conference about what was going on because John had something important he had to do which he couldn't leave. Chloe could see that it had annoyed both Sam and Dean, but they'd told John mostly everything, and she said mostly because John still didn't know that that she'd been married to Dean in the alternate reality (neither did Lois) or the fact that the Dalakis weren't exactly human (no one trusted him not to try and hunt Chloe if he did). But despite knowing everything John had stayed away for months. He'd said he was doing something important, that he knew someone who might have information, and then there'd been radio silence. Nothing. Until now.

"Dad." Dean's voice was gruff and he tried to sit up straighter but flinched in pain.

Chloe pushed him back down with a glare. "Stay down."

He pouted at her.

She smiled back at him.

John cleared his throat, loudly.

They turned their gazes back on the man who wasn't used to being ignored by anyone, much less his sons.

"A drunk driver." John dropped his bags and entered the room. "Your hunter senses must be depleted for you to let a drunk driver put you in a hospital."

Chloe clenched her fists. He hadn't seen his son in forever and this was his opening line?

"John…" Bobby began.

"Look what the cat dragged in." Lois pushed passed Bobby into the room and snorted at John as she sat on the edge of Dean's bed. "What, did you get bored and figured your family might help liven things up for you?"

John glared at her.

Sam entered the room and closed the door. "Why did you decide to come now?"

"I don't like being interrogated," John snapped at them. "So quit it. Now."

"Make me," Lois challenged.

John looked about to hit her but took in a deep breath and turned his sharp gaze on Chloe. "We need to talk."

"You and me?" Chloe pointed to herself in surprise.

Dean glared and tried to sit up once more. "Whatever you say to her—."

"You say in front of me." Lois stood, defiant. "She's under my guardianship."

Dean flinched and looked away.

Chloe loved Lois, especially how protective she was, but at the moment it was a hindrance. Not only wouldn't Dean even look in her direction whenever Lois was around, but because of the brunette he hadn't kissed Chloe in… in too long. The blonde understood. He'd explained everything to her as soon as they could get a moment alone in the hospital while waiting for Jess to be discharged, but that didn't mean that Chloe had to like this new situation. She'd only just really gotten into a comfortable relationship with Dean, they'd just told each other truths they'd needed to hear, and yet now it felt like they'd taken five steps back.

Lois, bless her soul, wasn't doing any of this on purpose and didn't seem to notice the tension at all. Not the normal tension nor the romantic tension. Nothing. She was just glad to be back and had stepped back into the role of Chloe's mother. They slept in the same motel rooms. Shopped together. Went out to get things for the boys together. And if, for some reason, they had to split up in groups with the boys, Lois and Dean always ended up going together. Always. And it was Dean's fault. He didn't want to do anything that might make Lois suspicious (like always wanting to go alone with Chloe) but Chloe was worried that he was giving Lois the wrong idea! The brunette had always been attracted to Dean, and she'd always wanted "father" material for Chloe, and the blonde was worried that Lois really would develop feelings for Dean. Not only didn't she want to hurt her cousin - but damn it - Chloe was insecure. She knew she wasn't half as pretty as her cousin, or half as vivacious, or alluring, or—or—Lois was just _that_ girl. And Chloe wasn't. And she still didn't know why Dean was with her.

It wasn't as if they were fated to be together. Wade had been her soulmate. Not Dean. If there was anyone she'd been fated to be with it was Wade - and what did that say about her relationship with Dean?

To be truthful, though, Chloe hadn't worried about all these questions until Lois had appeared. She'd been secure in her relationship with Dean, at least as much as she could be about anything - but now everything was murky.

Dean wanted to wait until her eighteenth birthday, when Lois couldn't say anything, but Chloe had so many doubts about that plan. For one, she loved Dean and wanted to be with him, and for the other, she worried that there was no way a relationship would last as a non-relationship that long.

"Fine." John narrowed his eyes on Chloe. "Your mother is loose."

Chloe's eyes widened in horror. "What?"

Even Lois looked shaken. "We would've heard—."

"They're keeping it under wraps, I only know because I saw her when I went to check up on something in Smallville." John's gaze was on Chloe. "She was at your apartment, going through the empty place with a fury, screaming something about needing to find you and finish what she started. That she needed to save you before it was too late."

Chloe had faced Spencer, had gone up against Goodnight, had survived Hope… and yet at the thought of her mother her legs shook and she hadn't realized they'd given way until she found herself sat prostrate on the cold tile ground.

"Chloe!" Lois hurried around the bed towards her.

"What were you doing at their place in Smallville?" Sam wanted to know.

John kept his gaze on Chloe. "She's coming for you, and she has a witch helping her. It's the only reason I wasn't able to stop her - I was unprepared for the backup."

"A witch?" Bobby glared. "Was it a Dalakis?"

Chloe hadn't told anyone what Hannah had said, that the Dalakis weren't actually witches, because she'd been too scared to wonder what else they could be if not that.

"Maybe, I don't know, I didn't exactly stop to ask for her pedigree." John's voice was a hiss before he took in a deep breath. "They'll find you, they're retracing your steps, and now that the witch has something of yours from the apartment they'll be able to find you. It'll take a while for the spell to take effect, but it will. And when it does they'll come for you."

"Let them," Dean growled. "I'll kill them both."

"Dean, you can't even move right now." Lois dismissed him and turned to look at John. "You wouldn't have taken the time to come here if you just wanted to pass the message along."

"You're right." John turned his glare on Chloe. "I know somewhere I can stash you where they wouldn't be able to find you, magic or no magic."

Chloe's eyes widened.

"Where?" Sam wanted to know.

John raised his chin. "Holloway Asylum."

Chloe froze.

Dean snarled. "You are not sticking her in some quack house!"

"Holloway Asylum has been used by Hunters for decades to hide those being tracked by magical means." John's voice harshened. "She'll be safe there. They'll be unable to find her. It'll be like she disappeared off of the face of the earth."

So it'd be like the time she was taken to an alternate universe.

Dean must've thought the same thing too, because his features twisted in utter disapproval of this plan.

Chloe, on the other hand, was conflicted. On one hand she didn't want to leave Dean, but on the other this was Holloway Asylum. This was the place she'd planned on interning herself months ago. This was the place Wade had told her about before he—before his death. She felt like she owed it to Wade. She hadn't been able to help him, to save him, but maybe if she helped the people in that place she'd be able to alleviate her conscience somehow. She kept dreaming of Wade dying. Every night. She needed to do something to feel less guilty.

"Fine, if they can't track her then she and I will go to this psycho ward," Lois sighed.

"No," John said, eyes on Lois. "You're the only one who knows Moira or how she thinks. You're coming with me." He turned to Sam. "I need you to go to George. There's someone I know there who might have a way to track the witch." His gaze went to Bobby. "Think you can muster up the desire to go to Montana to see Dee?"

Bobby groaned. "I thought you might ask that." With a sigh he nodded. "I'm on it." And with that he left.

Dean narrowed his eyes. "What do I do?"

"Nothing, you're useless to us how you are." John's words were harsh. "Stay here, you'll only be a burden the way you are."

A muscle jumped in Dean's cheek. "If you think that I'm just going to stay here while—."

"Dean." Chloe reached out and placed her hand over his heart. "You're too weak right now. You need to stay in the hospital and get better."

He turned to look at her, expression both frustrated and betrayed. His heart beat rapidly under her touch, urgent, worried.

"I'll be fine." She gave him a brave smile. "If there's a place that's made to make sure no one can sneak in or out, it's an asylum. I'll be perfectly fine while the others find my mom and—give her back to the authorities. Anyway, she won't even know I'm there."

He caught her hand and held it tightly. "I don't trust that she won't."

"Are you calling me a liar?" John hissed.

They both ignored him.

Dean tightened his grip on Chloe's hand, gaze up at her, expression as close to pleading as it would ever become. "I don't want to be separated from you. Nothing good happens when we're apart."

His words tugged at her heart and she smiled down at him, fighting the tears. She didn't want to be separated either, but she knew that he needed to rest and get better now, and for her the most important thing was that Dean was safe and healed. What if her mother and the witch found her while she was with him? He'd try to protect her and he could be hurt worse than he already was – or killed. "It'll just be a little while."

Dean's grip tightened on her hand and he shook his head.

"Deano, I get that you're worried about Chlo, I am too." Lois stepped in close, breaking into the moment as she placed her arm around her cousin's shoulders. "But we have to do what's smartest. Aunt Moira has proven herself resourceful and deadly in the past – and that was _without_ a witch helping her. We need to put our big sibling worry to the side and trust that your father knows what he's saying."

"Excuse me?" John glared.

"You're excused," she quipped over her shoulder before she continued. "Chloe will be fine. And we need her to be fine while we find this madwoman and put her away – this time for _good_." She hugged Chloe tightly, unintentionally causing Chloe and Dean's hands to slip out of each other. "We'll get her, Baby Cuz."

Chloe, gaze on Dean, hugged Lois back. "I know."

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><p>She was being interned under the name Chloe Campbell. Apparently that had been Dean's mother's maiden name, and considering that one time Hannah Dalakis had made Chloe think she was Mary, well, it made her all sorts of uncomfortable. Still, she understood the need for subterfuge and didn't say anything about it. She'd easily convinced the doctors that she 'needed their help' and she really hadn't had to act. Instead she'd told them about the symptoms she'd lived with most of her life. The nightmares. The ghost pains. She opened herself up to the evaluating doctors and was admitted into the place under self-admittance. It meant that she'd have more liberties than the few patients who'd been forced to attend, and while that made things a little better she was beginning to feel trapped already.<p>

John had played the worried guardian and hugged her with a gruff "keep an eye out" in her ear before he'd disappeared out the door without a look behind. In fact, he'd looked like he couldn't get out of there fast enough. At first both his actions and his words had left her completely confused, but then she'd entered the common area after getting her belongings settled in her private room, and she understood immediately that John had had an ulterior motive in putting her in this place.

She'd never felt so furious in her life. Was her mother really out or had John lied just to get her here? And why exactly did he want her here in the first place? Shouldn't he be doing his best to-unless Wade was right, and John needed someone to "keep an eye out" just in case.

Taking in a deep breath, Chloe moved towards the boy with the golden hair and tanned skin who sat in the corner, staring unseeingly at his shoes. His mind was obviously somewhere else, and whatever he was thinking about was torturing him. His eyes were haunted, and the dark bags under them proved he hadn't slept in far too long.

For a second Michael and his sneer flashed before her eyes, but she shook her head. "So, how crazy are you?"

He jumped and looked up at her in shock. Apparently he'd been so deep in thought he hadn't even noticed her standing next to him. This guy was nothing like the arrogant, self-assured Michael. He was scared. That was obvious in his eyes, there was terror, which he tried to hide the second he realized she was a flesh and blood girl and not-not a monster.

She felt surprising pity fill her. "I'm sorry, that was rude, wasn't it?"

"Not really, not considering where we are," he chuckled darkly and shook his head. "I saw my mother's murder and repressed the violence of the scene by creating monsters in place of men. I'm here to work out those issues so I can remember and accept things for how they truly happened." He sounded like he was reciting something he'd been told by the doctors over and over again. He also sounded like he didn't believe it. With a sigh he looked up at her. "What about you?"

Oh god. _This_ was why John hadn't come immediately. Lois had thought that he'd gone to a regular hunt but… The pieces were slowly falling into place. "My mother tried to murder me, twice, and because of that I have anxiety issues, insomnia, suffer from nightmares and ghost pains and a couple of other things I'm told are all in my mind."

He raised his hand. "Adam Milligan."

A sigh escaped her lips as she shook that hand. "Chloe." She turned to sit on the armrest of the chair he was on. "So. How long have you been here?"

"Two months or so." Adam's gaze shifted to the others in the common room. "If I wasn't crazy before, I think I might be now."

"That bad?" She asked, curious.

He shrugged. "I'm told I hallucinate."

She tilted her head towards him, Wade's words about what had happened to people in this place playing in her head. "What sort of things?"

He shrugged once more and looked unwilling to comment further.

Her eyes narrowed on him and was about to press her luck when suddenly a girl walked up to them.

She was older than they were by at least five years, and she looked like she'd spent those five years locked in this place. Her hair was wild, but not as wild as the expression on her face as she leaned in close. "Don't be alone! It comes for you when you're alone! It comes in the darkness! It comes for your soul!"

"What does?" Chloe fixed her eyes on the woman who could either be just bonkers – or driven insane by something happening around her.

"The Boogeyman." The girl leaned in closer, her breath rank, like she hadn't eaten or brushed her teeth in days.

Adam shifted uncomfortably in his sheet.

"The _Boogeyman_." Chloe tried to school all expression off of her face.

"He'll find your fears and he'll use them against you." The girl grabbed Chloe's arms and shook her tightly. "Stay in the light!"

"Karen, get off of her!" In a second Adam was up and had torn Karen off of Chloe, the other woman's nails digging in and scratching her arms. Orderlies hurried towards them and grabbed Karen, pulling the struggling girl away.

"HE CAME FOR YOU, ADAM!" Karen screamed as she was taken away. "HE'LL COME BACK FOR YOU!"

Chloe's eyes widened as she turned her gaze towards a pale Adam. "What's she talking about?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. She's crazy, that's all." His gaze went to her arms. "Come on, we'll get someone to take a look at that."

Chloe wanted to press, but she could see he'd closed himself off after that attack. So she just let him take her to the infirmary to get her scratches taken care of.

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><p>One of the rules of this place was that you had to agree to total isolation from the outside. You were allowed one phone call a week, that was it. Chloe already knew this, and that was why she'd had a fake phone to hand in and had smuggled her real cellular into her room, which she'd hidden, along with her Arcangel blade, behind the vent she'd dislodged in her private bathroom. She'd only make phone calls from the bathroom anyway, because there shouldn't be a camera in there – and if there <em>was<em> a camera there was no way that the asylum could get away with admitting it. Not without looking like perverts.

After medication was given out (she'd thought this was a place that didn't believe much in medication) the lights were cut and everyone ordered to bed. Chloe waited for the first round of orderlies to make their rounds before she slipped into the bathroom and freed her phone.

She quickly responded to Lois' texts, letting her know she was fine, then called a number she knew by heart. Dean wasn't supposed to have his cellular either, but like her he wasn't exactly one to follow rules.

In two rings he'd picked up. "I hate this plan."

She smiled at the sound of his voice. "I miss you."

"Then you shouldn't have left," he mumbled, clearly still annoyed at her for siding with his father.

"Let's not fight," she whispered.

He could be heard groaning softly as he got into a more comfortable position. "What's the place like?"

"I don't know. Cold." She contemplated telling him about Adam, and while she knew that he wouldn't be happy, well… "Your half-brother is here."

There was a moment of silence, and then: "The half-brother that kills us all in the future?"

"A future that isn't _ours_."

He growled. "Goddamnit! My father planned this! Your mother probably isn't even after you! What is he up to?"

"I don't know, but Adam's mother was murdered by some monster and I think your father brought him here to convince him that he didn't see what he knows he saw."

There was silence, and then Dean groaned. "Damn that old man." There was reluctant empathy in his voice. "How could he do that? If Adam and his mother were targeted he's not going to ever be safe. Especially if he doesn't know the truth."

"It's probably a reason why Adam's here. So nothing can find him." Chloe ran her hand over her face. "What do you know about the Boogeyman?"

There was a pause. "The _Boogeyman_? He doesn't exist. Why?"

Relief flooded. "One of the crazies here started ranting and raving about the Boogeyman." She sighed. "I wouldn't take anything she said seriously though. I mean, she attacked me and-."

"_What_?" Dean's voice was low, dangerous.

"Dean, she got sent to solitary. Apparently she's not one of the ones here voluntary. I'll be fine. I only got scratched."

"Chloe, I don't like-."

The sound of footsteps echoing in the hallway caught her attention. "I have to go."

"Chloe-!"

"I love you!" Hanging up, Chloe hid her phone once more and hurried to her bed. By the time her door was opened and a light shone inside, she was tucked under the blankets 'asleep'. The light continued to rest on her for a couple of minutes before the door closed and the footsteps continued on down the hall towards the other patients.

Opening her eyes, Chloe let out a sigh. That had been close. She'd have to learn the night orderlies' patterns to be able to time herself better.

Getting more comfortable in bed, Chloe closed her eyes and, to her surprise, quickly fell asleep.

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><p>TBC<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Don't own Smallville/Supernatural

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><p>"I know, right?" Adam brought his tray and sat it next to Chloe's as he sat next to her. "It's like a four star hotel chef works here."<p>

Despite the disgust she felt at the lumpy porridge dripping from her spoon into the bowl, Chloe laughed as she tilted her head towards him. "You took the words right out of my mouth."

While he flashed her a smile, the bags under his eyes were darker than yesterday.

She frowned as she eyed him. "You didn't sleep last night, did you?"

A muscle jumped in his cheek as Adam shook his head and stirred the hot porridge with his spoon. "I don't sleep."

"What about the meds?" She asked. "I don't usually sleep but last night I was out like a light bulb." She frowned. "I don't even remember dreaming, which is weird, because I have some _intense_ nightmares."

He opened his mouth to say something and then shook his head and looked back down at his porridge.

Eyes narrowed, Chloe stared at Adam. "Did you see something? Is that why you're not sleeping?"

"I'm not crazy." His words were soft and urgent, and quite a bit defensive.

"That's not what I asked, was it?" She raised an eyebrow.

Adam took in a deep breath and then turned to face her. "Look. I know how crazy this sounds, but I saw what I saw. I see what I see. They aren't hallucinations. None of it. My mother wasn't killed by a human. Some _monster_ tore her apart and started to eat before she _died_. There wasn't-I am not-." He stopped when she placed her hand on his shoulder. "You're going to tell me I need to see Dr Volchek about changing my meds, aren't you?"

She shook her head. "I was going to ask if whatever killed your mother was humanoid or animalistic."

His eyes widened, like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Humanoid. It stood like a man, but its eyes-its teeth-its claws-it _wasn't_ a man."

"Okay."

His eyes widened further. "Okay? That's all you're going to say?"

"What do you get out of lying to me about it? We're both already here." She turned away from him and tried the porridge with a grimace. "Oh, this is horrible. How can you eat this thing? _Tell_ me it isn't what we're going to have every morning!"

He watched her with wide-eyed awe. "You believe me."

John might not want Adam to know about the supernatural, he might even have him stashed here while he hunted down those after him, but Dean was right. Adam deserved to know. "You'd be surprised at the things I've seen. Your story, well, let's just say that while horrifying, it's much more believable than the things I've been through."

Adam turned towards her and straddled the seat. "I thought you were interned here because of what your mother did."

"I am interned here for very specific reasons that have nothing to do with that. Not really." She tried the porridge once more, cringed, and then pushed it away. "I've learnt to deal with everything on my own, in my own way. But I have to admit that I haven't had as full or deep of a sleep as I did last night since my mother tried to kill me. Whatever is in those meds, they're potent."

Adam opened his mouth, questions in his eyes-.

A strawberry blonde guy slid into the seat next to him. "Did you hear about Karen?"

Adam and Chloe shared looks before they turned to face him. Adam frowned. "What have you heard, Jimmy?"

"She killed herself while in isolation." Jimmy's freckles were more visibly as he paled. "Apparently she ruptured her own eyeballs with her thumbs."

Chloe felt like she was going to be sick.

"What is that? The second suicide in two weeks?" Adam's eyes narrowed.

"If you believe the rumors about the massacre that happened here some time back, dude, it's much more than that." Jimmy flinched when someone slapped him up the back of his head. "Hey! That hurt!"

"Don't be an idiot." A plain looking dark haired girl declared. "If the massacres had actually happened this place would've been shut down and there is _no way_ that they'd be allowed to stay open and tend to patients. Especially not those who can check themselves out whenever they want." She placed her hands on her hips. "This is a place for people who are mentally unstable. Obviously some people aren't going to be strong enough to stick it out and bet on the treatments working. Every nuthouse will have suicides. It's a part of life."

"You know, Harriet, you're a bitch," Jimmy informed her.

Harriet rolled her eyes and walked away.

Jimmy got up and left to go to another table to spread the news.

Adam turned Chloe. "I need to tell you something." He opened his mouth to continue when a bell rung. He sighed. "We need to get to group therapy. Can we, uh, talk later? Just the two of us?"

Nodding, Chloe followed him up and they dumped their full paper bowls of food into the trash can before Adam led her to her very first group therapy session.

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><p>"How could you <em>not<em> tell us that she'd escaped? She tried to _kill_ her daughter!" Lois snarled as she slammed her hands down on the table, causing the fat, old warden of the high-level security mental institution Moira had been imprisoned in to jump in obvious fear.

"W-w-w-e were h-handling it and d-d-didn't see the need to w-w-worry the girl when we would capture-."

"Don't think I'm a fool," Lois growled. "You didn't want news about how lax your security system is getting out! This had _nothing_ about you not wanting Chloe to worry!"

"I a-a-a-assure you that we only had the most p-p-p-pure intentions at h-heart!"

Lois turned her back on him, disgusted, and let John continue with the interrogations as she whipped out her phone and called Dean. He answered on the fifth ring. "She really is out. We've confronting the warden right now. Apparently she's been out for two weeks and they didn't think it necessary to warn anyone about it."

"What now? Now that we know Moira is looking for Chloe and has a witch – but hopefully won't be able to locate her via spell – what do you think your aunt will do next? Where will she go? Is there anyone who would give her sanctuary?" Dean's voice was pure business. "Bobby and Sam have hit a dead end on both their corners. We need a win."

Lois moved towards the window and looked out. "My father wouldn't help her, if that's what you're implying."

"I wasn't." His voice was harsh. "I meant Gabriel Sullivan."

She froze. "There's no way that Uncle Gabe-!"

"It's _his_ fault she was in a minimum security quack house and could escape to attack Chloe the _first_ time." Dean's voice was cold steel. "He then abandoned his daughter when she needed him the most. To me that man is capable of _anything_."

Lois opened her mouth to tell him about the Uncle Gabe _she_ remembered, the one who adored his daughter, who cried every night non-stop during Chloe's time catatonic, and who had been terrified to let his daughter out of his sight long enough for her and Lois to go on their road trip. She thought about the father who'd been so terrified and dedicated to his daughter. What exactly had happened to him? How had he become the man he was now? He couldn't even say that he'd been made to think he was someone else! "I'll get in contact with my father and ask him to put surveillance on Uncle Gabe, just in case."

"Thank you, Lois."

"Come on, you don't need to thank me, she's my Baby Cousin, I'd do anything to make sure she's safe." She smiled. "You're the one I need to thank. You're really dedicated to her safety… I really admire that."

"Lois, I have to go. Let me know when you find out something." With that he hung up.

Sighing, Lois put away the phone and turned towards the trembling warden. It was time to make him cry.

* * *

><p>"What about you, Chloe?" Dr Volchek was a handsome enough man, around forty years old, who had a kindly expression on his face. If he had a fault it was that he pushed people too far too soon, or at least that was what Chloe felt after watching him interacting with a couple of the others during group therapy. "Now that you've seen how we do this, why don't you join in and tell the group a little about yourself and why you are here?"<p>

Uncomfortable, Chloe hugged herself as she eyed the group that watched her intently. She'd spent the whole morning listening to stories and had hoped that, since it was almost lunchtime, the meeting would end before they came to her. So much for wishful thinking. "My name's Chloe and I'm here because I have problems sleeping." At Dr Volchek's nod for her to continue, she took in a deep breath. "This is the reason I have problems sleeping." She pulled down the neck of her shirt and heard gasps as people saw the upside down cross scar over her heart. "My mother did that to me." Her gaze slide to Dr Volchek. "Is that enough or do you want me to go on and say that my mother escaped from a psychiatric holding facility and tried to kill me because she thought my real father was the devil, and that by killing me she was saving me from him? Or how about the fact that she attacked me once more while I was in the hospital? Or that I was catatonic for months afterwards? Or that I dream of the event all the time, and the dreams are so real my body believes it's really happening, that I'm being stabbed in the heart once more, and I can feel it all over?"

There was hushed silence.

Harriet smirked in the corner. "What a freak."

"We do not talk about people that way here, Harriet," Dr Volchek snapped. "This is a _safe_ place."

"Yeah, tell that to _Karen_." A boy who'd spoken earlier, calling himself Stew, snorted.

Murmurs arose from the group.

"What happened to Karen was a horrible thing, she gave up the fight and desire to live." Dr Volchek shook his head. "Session is dismissed. Go and do something constructive. I want to hear all about it during our next meeting." As the group rose and dispersed, he cleared his throat. "Can I talk to you for a minute alone, Chloe?"

It wasn't like she had much of an option. "Sure."

Adam motioned with his head towards the door. "I'll wait for you outside."

She opened her mouth to tell him he didn't need to, but he was already gone. She turned to Dr Volchek and cleared her throat. "What did I do?"

"Nothing," he assured her. "I just want you to know that participation in group sessions is about opening up and realizing that you are not alone in your problems. I do not want you to feel that you are being attacked. Everything we do here, Chloe, is for your benefit. We only want to help you, and we have a long list of victories - so many lives we've managed to help change for the better." He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Let us help you like we have them."

She cleared her throat and nodded. "I'll try not to be so defensive next time. I-It's just a really touchy subject."

"And with good reason," he replied with a squeeze. "I just want you to know that we are here for you, and ask you to please not see us as the enemy."

She nodded once more. "Of course, Dr Volchek."

His gaze went to the doorway. "I see you are making friends with young Mister Milligan. He's a good boy. Hopefully you two can help each other."

"I hope so too." When he finally let go, she gave him a weak smile and left the room. Adam was waiting there for her and he motioned for her to follow him, which she did. "Where are we going?"

"There's something I need to tell you – tell _someone_." He sent the cameras around them wary looks before he lowered his voice and leaned in closer. "Someone who _isn't_ insane at least, who will believe me."

"Does this have to do with what happened to your mother?" She asked softly as she leaned in closer as well.

His only answer was to grab her hand and hurry them through the winding hallways towards his room. He barged in and closed the door behind him before he went to the small radio he owned and turned it on. Obviously he didn't trust that the rooms weren't bugged. "I know this is going to sound insane, but the Boogeyman? He exists."

Chloe eyed him carefully as she sat down on his bed. "Have you seen him?"

He paced the room. "I'm not the only one."

Her eyes narrowed. "Karen?"

Adam nodded. "And Grant."

"Who is Grant?" Chloe moved closer.

"The guy who committed suicide before Karen." Adam flung himself on the bed. "He's coming for me. I'm next. I know it. When you're sleeping – when you're alone - when it's dark – he's there."

"That's why you haven't been sleeping," she realized.

He nodded. "I don't know how much longer I can do this. I'm about to have a nervous breakdown. I'll really go insane if something doesn't happen."

"Did you see him before you came here?"

"Only after." Adam turned towards her on the bed. "I know that what I'm saying is crazy and you have no reason to believe me, but-."

"Your room's not that far from mine." Chloe eyed him. "I'll stay the night. That way you won't be alone, and you can sleep."

"No." He shook his head. "If you're here you'll put yourself on his radar."

"If we have to alternate sleeping one night and being on guard the other... That's better than this thing making you its next victim." She smiled at him.

Adam looked up at her and then smiled back. "Thank you."

She pulled away. "I need to check on something. I'll be right back."

* * *

><p>"What do you <em>mean<em> there's a Boogeyman there? You were taken to that place because it's supposed to be safe!" Jessica Moore shot up in shock, her eyes wide as she listened to the voice on the other side of the phone. She was in Stanford, fully recovered, and had been in telephone contact with Chloe daily. She knew where the younger blonde was, why she was there, and the incredulity in her tone was justified. "And anyway, I thought Sam said that most urban legends, like say Bloody Mary, were just that – urban legends?"

"Two gruesome suicides – possibly more – say that there's at least _something_ here," Chloe sighed.

"This is ridiculous! This makes it official. John Winchester is _useless_ in my books!" Jessica cried out before she forced herself to calm down. "I'll do what you ask and talk to Sam cunningly, get information out of him if I can, but I'm also going to ask my mother about this. She might know something."

"Thanks Jess," Chloe whispered. "Whatever this thing is, it's already got another target lined up. I don't think anyone here is safe."

"I'm on it Chlo, count on me. Just, be safe." Hanging up, Jessica dialed her mother, and before the woman could finish her greeting, she asked: "Here's a quiz for you, mom. Boogeymen: real or not real?"

Her mother paused, before she responded, surprise audible in her tone. "Honey, there's no such thing as the Boogeyman."

* * *

><p>Dean Winchester hated this. The girl he loved was in danger, his father was up to something, and Dean was stuck in the hospital unable to move without crying out in pain. It was horrible and embarrassing. He should be with Chloe right now. Sure, Adam wasn't the same Adam who killed everyone – who would one day kill Chloe and start the apocalypse – but that didn't mean that Dean trusted him.<p>

He slipped his finger into the neck of his shirt and pulled out the chain she'd left with him, the one in which dangled the wedding bands of their alternate selves. She hadn't wanted to take it with her in case she lost it, and a part of him was glad she hadn't. More and more he found himself clutching the rings, and while they didn't make things better, they helped calm him down somewhat. It was as if a bit of her essence was in those rings and a part of him knew it.

A sigh escaped his lips as he gazed at the ceiling. He didn't know if he could keep up this act until Chloe turned eighteen. Not only wasn't Lois that oblivious, but he wasn't that subtle. On top of that he missed the closeness Chloe and he had shared before, and it was taking all he could to pull away and be a gentleman. That spelled disaster. He could just imagine Lois walking in on him and Chloe, and the shitstorm that that would create. He needed to figure out a way to break the news to Lois without her freaking out and taking Chloe away. He needed Lois to see that this wasn't a sex thing (although he _really _wouldn't be against that right now). He needed Chloe. She needed him. They were good for each other.

But how to get the overprotective brunette to see this and accept it? She approved of Dean and trusted him, which was nice and all, but Dean couldn't hold up this big brother farce for her for much longer. He also had a feeling Lois wanted him to play "daddy" to her "mommy" when it came to "parenting" Chloe, and there was _no way_ he was going to touch that – not even with an eleven-foot stick! This whole situation was going to totally screw him over if he didn't do something, and fast. He had an (unofficial) girlfriend and he wouldn't be able to keep pretending that that wasn't so until the girl was eighteen.

"You should've killed her."

Dean turned towards the accusing tone to find Moira Sullivan and a woman closing the door as they entered his room. "_You_."

"You were supposed to kill her!" Moira's faced twisted in fury. "If I failed you were to succeed!"

Dean tried to get out of bed but the witch held out her hand towards him and he was forced hard against the bed. Struggling hurt like hell, but he did so anyway. "I will _never_ let you hurt her."

"Tell us where she is." Moira came closer. "I need to kill her before it is too late."

"Burn in hell you psycho," he hissed. "You'll never have her."

Moira let out a despaired sound as she grabbed and tore out handfuls of her hair. "I promised to save her!"

Dean narrowed his eyes. "You're insane."

"I can't let the devil have her, I can't let the darkness take over completely and steal her soul. If she dies before it happens her soul will rest in peace." She grabbed the front of his hospital gown. "She said that the devil would reclaim her if I don't do this! Don't you understand? She made me promise to save her!" She shook him violently. "She told me what they would do – halfblood or not!"

Dean froze at that one word, his eyes wide in horror.

She took that as encouragement. "Before she caused the distraction and freed me from my cage she placed her hand against my stomach and told me never to let them have her. Never. And I promised. I will _never_ let the devil and those demons have her – or her soul!"

Dean stared up at Moira's crazed face, a dark feeling churning in his stomach. "Who told you this? Who freed you?"

"_Chloe_." Moira let out a cry before she sobered. "Not Chloe." She shook her head vehemently. "Those eyes weren't Chloe."

Dean's hazels widened in sudden understanding. Madelyn. _Madelyn_ had been the one to free Moira when she'd been captured and tortured by Viktor! _Madelyn_ had apparently made a distraction so the woman could escape. _She_ was the reason Moira had made it out of her hell alive, and why Viktor had gone to prison for so many years!

"Please tell me where she is!" Moira begged. "She needs to die! There isn't much time left!"

Dean shook his head, voice soft but determined. "No matter what you do to me, I'll never tell you where she is."

Moira screamed and turned away, grabbing at her hair. "TEAR THE TRUTH OUT OF HIM!"

The witch finally spoke. "It doesn't matter anymore. Your time is up. There is nothing you can do to change what will happen. Not anymore."

Moira turned to her. "Don't say that!"

"It's true." The witch let out a sigh. "Your grace period has ended. No interference on your part will change anything." And then, with the blinking of an eye, Moira and the witch were gone.

* * *

><p>TBC<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Don't own Smallville/Supernatural

* * *

><p>"This is my first full day here and already I'm already dying of boredom," Chloe complained as she rested her head back against the sofa's armrest, her body stretched out on the sofa itself. Adam sat on the chair next to her, and another patient sat on a loveseat talking to himself. Jimmy was off in the corner whispering to a group of patients, and Harriet stared out of the window. Stew, from group therapy, kept making obscene gestures to one of the others girls, (who'd hit on Harriet in the bathroom) so Stew was <em>really<em> barking up the wrong tree. "If I had known that I had to bring my own reading material…"

Adam murmured as he sketched in a pad.

She sent him a look. "What are you drawing?"

"Anything I feel like. Dr Volchek says that this will help him examine my psyche or something like that," he admitted. "Right now, I'm drawing you."

She raised an eyebrow, and when she spoke it was with a horrible British accent. "Paint me like one of your French girls."

Getting the reference, Adam snorted in laughter, his blue eyes twinkling. He then paused and shook his head. "I haven't laughed since mom-since it happened." He cleared his throat and took in a deep breath. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She sat up with her feet folded under her Indian Style. "Let me see what you've gotten so far."

He handed over the drawing pad.

Chloe snickered as she eyed herself. The drawing wouldn't win any awards, but anyone could tell the girl laying haphazardly on the sofa and taking up all of its space was tremendously bored. She reached for her necklace with the rings on it and frowned when her hand came up empty. A sigh escaped as she passed the drawing pad back to Adam.

He picked up on her mood change immediately. "I don't draw _that_ badly."

"That's not it," she sighed and laid back down. "I miss my boyfriend." She wondered exactly what Dean was doing right now in the hospital. Was he sleeping? Or giving the nurses hell? Or in a _lot_ of pain?

"Oh." Adam cleared his throat. "Well, we have visitation once a month."

She didn't plan to be here this long. Even if her mother was still out there she was only giving this place two weeks tops. Then she was busting out. _And to _**_think_**_ I thought about interning myself in this joint _**_for real_**_ some time back_.

"Time for your meds," the orderlies announced as they arrived with little plastic cups of brightly colored pills. Each small cup had a name written on it in sharpie, and the group within this wing of the psychiatric facility were small enough that three orderlies were enough to hand out the meds (and make sure that they were being taken).

"Come on, Milligan, bottoms up," an orderly declared as he passed Adam his medicine.

A muscle jumped in Adam's cheek before he downed the pills and chased it away with a small cup of water.

The orderly (whose nametag read: PAUL) pulled out a small flashlight and turned it on. None of the other orderlies had done this with their patients. Had Adam been giving trouble when it came to taking the meds?

Adam opened his mouth wide, only closing it once the orderly was done and turned to Chloe.

"These are great, I slept like a baby last night," Chloe informed Paul while Adam shook his head discreetly to her from behind him. She smiled at the orderly and picked up her own concoction before she threw her head back and pretended to swallow the two pills, 'chasing' them down with water. She hoped that Paul didn't check her, because one pill she could probably hide, but not two. Not with ease at least. "Thanks."

Paul nodded and turned to head towards Harriet.

Pretending to sneeze, Chloe covered her nose and mouth with her hand and discreetly removed the meds and pocketed them. She turned to Adam, voice low. "You want to tell me why I just did that?"

He shook his head. "Not here. I'll explain tonight."

Intrigued, Chloe merely nodded.

* * *

><p>"I'm telling you, Dean, she just reappeared in her cell, as if she'd never left!" Lois paced the hall as she waited for the guard to take her to visit with Aunt Moira.<p>

"The witch must've taken her back after they visited my hospital room," Dean muttered. "You need to get information out of her, Lois. She was too nutty to make much sense, but from the little I was able to get from her, Madelyn Dalakis was the one who helped her escape and told her to kill Chloe."

"That makes no sense!" Lois threw her hand in the air in frustration. "Why save Moira if so? It would've been better to just let her die by Viktor's hands. Chloe wouldn't have been born!" Lois was furious, hell, she'd never been this livid before. In her books, Madelyn Dalakis was worse than the others in her crazy family. Because of her words to Moira, who'd already gone insane due to being tortured by Viktor, Chloe had suffered so much abuse.

"That's why you need to get through the Moira, get her to talk. She wouldn't stop screaming and pulling her hair out at the hospital." Dean's voice was gruff. "You need to get her to calm down enough to explain things to you once and for all." There was the sound of shuffling. "We need to know exactly what role Madelyn Dalakis plays in all of this."

"But she's dead, right?" Lois frowned. "I thought she was dead."

"It's been insinuated, but you never know with that damn family." Something dropped and he cursed.

Lois' eyes narrowed. "What are you doing?" A familiar sound revved in her ear. "Why do I hear the Impala's engine? You should be nowhere near the Impala's engine!"

"I'm driving to that quack house and I'm busting Chloe out," he declared as the impala could be heard screeching out of the parking lot. "Now that her mother's locked back up, and this "grace period" the witch was talking about is over, there's no need for Chloe to be there anymore."

Lois blinked. "She texted and said she was fine, that she was a little bored but that's it. That place is safe, Dean, and given everything that's going on, and how unsure we are about Madelyn's participation in this mess, it might be better if we let Chloe stay-."

Dean hung up on her.

Lois looked at her phone in shock.

Someone cleared his throat. "You can see your aunt, now, Miss Lane. She's been sedated and restrained, but she's conscious and able to speak to you."

"Good." A muscle jumped in Lois' cheek as she stabbed her phone into her pocket. "Because we're overdue a very important conversation."

* * *

><p>"So, on top of group sessions in the morning we have to do one on one in the evening." Chloe sat in the chair opposite Dr Volchek's and eyed him curiously. She wondered how many group sessions there were in the morning because there'd been people missing from hers, like Jimmy. There had to be other doctors to tend to the other groups. "People must respond better in the individual sessions."<p>

"It really depends on the person," he declared as he stationed the voice recorder between them and got comfortable in his seat. "Some people feel safer in a group ambience, while others prefer the confidentiality of the one-on-one sessions."

"But it's not confidential," she pointed out as she leaned forwards in her seat. "You record everything, and on top of that you make notes. Anyone could just go through your records and find out things I don't want them to."

"Your notes say that you've been going to a psychiatrist regularly up until now." He looked down at a file in his folder. "Did you feel this paranoia with her record keeping as well?"

It was different with Dr Masters. The woman acted like a teenaged girl, not like someone with a Ph.D. Plus, she never took notes.

Chloe leaned back in her seat. "No."

He tilted his head to the side. "Is there something about me that you do not trust, Chloe?"

She blinked at the question. "Not particularly, but I'm not exactly someone who trusts people on principle."

"People have to _earn_ your trust," he agreed as he made a note. "It's understandable, especially given your history."

She grew uncomfortable. Even though he only knew part of her history she still wasn't happy with it.

"You've suffered more abuse than what you've confided." He flipped through a chart. "Other than the scars over your heart, you have scars on other parts of your body, newer ones." He was referring to the faint scars she'd received while escaping from the barbed wire cage Goodnight had kept her in. "It is understandable that you find it hard to trust anyone, but I can't help you if you aren't completely honest with me."

She frowned and hugged herself. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"The Viktor Dalakis case had international coverage, Miss Sullivan, your mother's face, and your own, were splashed all over the news." His voice was soft. "I know who you are, though I do not believe anyone else has realized it." He eyed her. "I will not tell anyone who you really are, you will remain in our system as Chloe Campbell. I just want you to understand that I am not the enemy. I am truly here to help you, and I only have what's best for you in mind."

Chloe gulped. She was scared, but there wasn't anything she could do about this situation. "So? What do you want?"

"I want you to talk to me. You said your mother tried to kill you because of what happened to her at the hands of Viktor Dalakis, who now walks free on a technicality." He leaned back against his seat and eyed her curiously. "How does that make you feel?"

How was she supposed to answer this? "I don't care."

"That's a lie," he whispered, "and you know it."

She frowned at him. "He's a serial rapist/murderer tortured her for weeks and sent her insane. He's the reason she thought—thinks—why she tried-!" Chloe looked away and took in a deep breath. "He's my father and I'm far from happy he's free."

He nodded, apparently pleased with her right now as he made some notes. "Has he tried to get into contact with you?"

A muscle ticked in her cheek. "Yes."

Dr Volchek looked up at her in surprise, genuine emotion on his face as he asked: "Did he try to hurt you?"

She shook her head. "He wants me to become a part of the family."

Dr Volchek made a note. "But you refused."

"Of course I did."

"Has anyone else from the Dalakis family approached you or has it only been Viktor?"

She wanted to tell him to mind his own business, but that wasn't what came out. "His mother did. She wanted me to know she considers me a part of her family. I wanted her to know that I don't consider a part of _mine_."

He looked up from his notepad. "Why?"

Chloe was floored by the question. How in the world could he sit there and ask her that? She'd just finished telling him how she blamed Viktor for everything! "We're talking about the family of a psychopath who got off of a life sentence due to a _technicality_."

"So you're holding his crimes against the rest of his family. Why? They let him serve his sentence despite apparently having money and connections. That sounds like people who did not condone what he'd done to his victims and felt he deserved to pay for his actions." At Chloe's surprised expression he smiled sheepishly. "Once I realized who you were I researched so that I could be prepared to help you to the best of my abilities."

Chloe took in a deep breath and eyed the man in front of her. "How much do you know about the Dalakis family?"

"How much do _you_ know?" He countered. "It must be a lot for you not to want anything to do with your own grandmother."

She lowered her gaze. Now that she thought about it, she really didn't know that much. Most of what she knew came from Viktor, and he was psychotic. Then again, Hannah wasn't exactly innocent either. She'd made Chloe think she was Mary so she'd sleep with John for crying out loud! And yet… and yet she'd been there for Chloe when she'd needed to save Jess. Chloe knew that if it hadn't been for Hannah's guidance, she wouldn't have been able to do the spell and save her friend's life. But then again, knowing the Dalakis, they were probably behind the whole thing to begin with!

A groaned escaped her lips as she placed her hands over her face. "It's very complicated."

"I'm here to help you work through this, Chloe," Dr Volchek assured her. "We can take as much time as you need, but we _will_ get through this and you'll feel much better after untangling the mess of fears within you."

She sighed deeply and removed her hands from her face. "What do you know about the Dalakis family?"

He eyed her curiously before getting more comfortable in his seat. "From what I can tell the family is old money. I haven't done any in-depth research, but from the little I've managed to find, they help people. They not only donate to different charities, but they founded one as well. It's called Madelyn's Legacy, and its goal is, if I remember correctly, to help children who have been orphaned by suicide."

Chloe looked up at that name, eyes wide. "Did you say _Madelyn's_ Legacy?"

"Yes, she was your aunt," he replied. "According to the charity's website, she killed herself."

* * *

><p>"Lois," that voice was so familiar despite its drugged slur. "You have grown into a woman. You look so much like Ellen."<p>

Lois' skin crawled in disgust as she stared at her aunt, who wore a straight jacket with ease. "What does Madelyn Dalakis have to do with what you did to Chloe?"

At those names, Moira burst into tears. "I failed her!"

"Enough with the bawling!" Lois snapped. "You have all eternity to scream and cry. Right now I need you in control! I don't have the patience to deal with your snivelling right now, so shut up!"

Moira sniffled and turned to look at her. "You _sound_ like Ellen, too."

Telling herself to calm down or the guards would take her away, Lois took in a deep breath and tried once more. "I need you to tell me, in Sane People talk, what happened the day that Madelyn Dalakis helped you escape."

Moira sat up, tears in her eyes but voice firm. "He was going to kill me, and a part of me was so relieved, so happy, because it meant I wouldn't go through all the torture any longer. I just wanted to die." A lone tear travelled down her cheek. "And then she arrived. An angel of mercy in the darkness of hell. Like Gabriel to Mary she told me that I would have a child, a daughter, and that I had to save her from her destiny. She said I had to keep her safe, keep her hidden and untainted. She said that fate had been weaved, and that when my child became a woman she would be a very important asset. I knew right then that it was my duty to make sure that my child stayed uncorrupted, that the devil's blood in her veins didn't turn her towards hell – that I had to do all that was necessary to ensure this. If I didn't do what must be done, what sort of asset would she be and to whom?"

Lois felt sick in her stomach and yet didn't speak, didn't dare breathe. Madelyn had known that Chloe would be born the Asset. _That_ was why she'd freed Moira. Somehow she'd known that "fate have been weaved" and that the child in the crazed-woman's stomach was going to be important to the future. She just hadn't realized how crazed Moira was – or how she'd take her warning, which had obviously been about Chloe dying at the Michaelsword's hand and starting the apocalypse. But Moira had misconstrued _everything_.

"I tried my best – but I could see the evil in her coming out!" Moira wailed. "I knew I had to stop it, had to save my child's soul! She couldn't be an asset to that monster! To her father! I had to stop it from ever happening! And the witches – they promised me they could help – that there was a grace period where I could stop it all from happening – but no matter what we did, the hell in that girl's veins kept her alive. The voices told me, they told me I needed to kill her! I tried to do as they said! I did my very best!" Moira stared ahead of her numbly. "I've failed."

Lois backed away. "She didn't mean Chloe would be an asset to the devil, you crazy bitch. She meant that Chloe's the _Asset_." When Moira turned to look at her she couldn't keep her mouth shut, was horrified and furious. "It means that heaven and hell are playing a game in which Chloe has to die so that the apocalypse can begin. _That_ is what Madelyn meant. _That_. She was telling you to keep Chloe safe, to keep her hidden so that neither could find and kill her!"

Moira's face fell. "You're lying."

Lois shook her head. "I can't even look at you anymore." She turned and ran away, ignoring the sound of Moira's voice yelling for her to return.

* * *

><p>Considering that her phone (the only way she could call for help) and her Arcangel blade (the only way she'd be able to defend them if something happened) were both hidden in her bathroom, Chloe decided that instead of spending a night in Adam's room, he'd spend the night in hers. She was a little worried because she was tired from her session with Dr Volchek, but she'd be able to stay awake as promised. Adam needed the rest more than she did anyway.<p>

"Are you sure this is okay?" Adam looked around the bedroom, clearly uncomfortable as he rubbed his hands together.

"Of course it is," she replied. "Now are you going to explain about what happened today?"

For a moment he looked confused, and then his eyes widened as he gazed around the room. Right. Cameras could be everywhere.

Grabbing Adam's shirt, Chloe dragged the surprised boy into the bathroom and closed the door before she turned on the shower to help disguise their words. "Well?"

He cleared his throat as he looked around the small bathroom and he turned back to her, leaning in, voice low. "The meds make you sleepy. Karen told me, told us all, never to take them because he gets us when we're sleeping." He paused. "Plus, that orderly? Paul? He gave medication to both Grant and Karen the nights they committed suicide. It's why you can't take the meds if he's the one giving them to you."

Chloe's eyes widened. Maybe they needed to look into this Paul guy. He could be the Boogeyman for all they knew, or at least helping him. She wished Dean was here. He'd know what to do and how to do it.

Turning off the shower, Chloe opened the door and emerged the second there was a knock and Paul, of all people, peeked his head in in time to see Adam emerging from the steamy bathroom with her. His eyes widened in shock and then he snickered. "I was wondering where Milligan was considering it's close to light's out." He eyed the two of them. "Remember, just as long as you stay in after curfew, it doesn't matter whose room you're in." And then with a blatant wink, he closed the door behind him.

Adam's face was scarlet, which made the faint dusting of freckles on his face (which reminded her _so_ much of Dean) seem brighter. "I am so sorry about that."

"It's okay. We're going to be spending a night in the same room, obviously people are going to think that." She noticed the collection of flashlights he'd brought with him from his room.

He followed her gaze to them and flinched, clearly embarrassed. "They're here just in case the electricity gives out."

He really was afraid of the dark.

Chloe eyed the flashlights and smiled. "Good idea."

Relief was visible on Adam's face as she sat down on the bed. "So, uh, how are we going to do this?"

* * *

><p>"No Archangel is missing their weapon," Uriel threw himself on the sofa and ran his hand down his face. "Which begs the question - how does she have an Archangel blade?"<p>

"This gets more and more intriguing," Azazel murmured to himself, lips curled in a curious smile.

Uriel eyed the demon and huffed. Why couldn't he, for once, be nervous as hell (like Uriel) instead of devilishly amused? This was serious! She didn't have the blade of any known Archangel, and yet if that demon informant was correct, she had an Archangel blade! If that was so - she would've had to have one made just for her! And that would mean that someone _extremely_ high up was playing Benedict Arnold - and doing it better than Uriel himself!

"Would you like some Tums? You look like you're experiencing heartburn again."

"I'm _fine_." Uriel glared at him because, damn it, he _was_ experiencing heartburn again! "We have more bad news."

"What a fine day this has turned out to be," Azazel chuckled.

Uriel growled. "The alternate Michaelsword is still missing. We can't find him anywhere."

Azazel tilted his head to the side. "Is he dead?"

"He can't be!" A muscle ticked in Uriel's cheek. "On a similar note, your annoying little Asset is missing too, completely off the radar."

"Is that so?"

The total uncaring tone in the demon's voice made the angel automatically suspicious. "What. Have. You. Done?"

"Nothing." The demon crossed his heart and everything, the asshole.

"But you _know_ something," Uriel pressed.

Azazel's lips curled in a smile as he rose from the chair. "I'm getting you those Tums."

Uriel glared at the demon's back yet didn't say anything, because he needed those Tums somewhat urgently. Being with Azazel just didn't do his body good.

* * *

><p><strong>TBC<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Don't own Smallville/Supernatural**

* * *

><p>"You'd think that, after all of these sleepless nights, I'd conk out the second I closed my eyes," Adam muttered as he lay in bed and stared at the ceiling.<p>

"It's just your pent up energy, you'll go to sleep soon." Chloe sat on the chair and had a towel-wrapped Archangel blade hidden beneath her and out of sight. "You need to relax. If anything comes tonight, I'll be here. You wont get hurt."

"Why do you believe me?" He sounded so confused. "Why are you helping me? I'm a stranger."

"You're not."

He turned on the bed immediately to stare at her. "What do you mean?"

"It's going to sound crazy," she warned.

He motioned to the room. "We're in an asylum waiting for the Boogeyman. I think I can handle crazy."

She chuckled at that, amused with Dean's youngest brother. He was the Winchester closest to her age and she could see why, in the alternate reality, she had been friends with him. She'd learnt a lot from the other side, and she knew what could happen if Adam wasn't brought completely into the fold. She knew her instincts usually were to protect herself and those around her by hiding the truth, but she needed to be upfront with Adam, he needed to know. "In another reality, you kill me and all those I love."

He froze. "_What_?"

"I told you it would sound crazy," she sighed. "I know your father, John Winchester, and your brothers, Sam and Dean."

Adam went still before he sat up. "_I have brothers_?"

So Sam and Dean weren't the only ones who'd been kept in the dark. "Yes, they're both older than us."

Adam eyed her thoughtfully, a bit disturbed. "Did you come here from another universe to stop me from becoming evil or something?"

She shook her head. "I'm from this timeline, but I was taken to the other to see how the war will ravage the earth. In all the other realities the war has already happened, this is the only one where it hasn't yet, and I was being warned."

"War?" Adam narrowed his eyes.

"Between heaven and hell." She knew she sounded full-blown crazy but wouldn't stop. "You see, there's this bet going around heaven and hell, and the Asset plays a big part because she gives birth to the Michaelsword and the Luciferblade, the first which is destined to kill her and start the apocalypse. But each and every time an Asset has been born, she's been killed before the Michaelsword has come into his or her own." Chloe cleared her throat. "The last Asset, before me, was Mary Winchester. She was killed above her youngest son's cradle." She licked her lips. "Supposedly a hundred or so years are supposed to pass before another Asset can be born but here I am. And since the Michaelsword and Luciferblade are adults, well…" She cleared her throat. "To put things simple, Dean's the Michaelsword, and Sam the Luciferblade. Dean was supposed to kill me, but he made himself unfit, which meant that it fell to you. The Michaelsword and Luciferblade have to be siblings."

"You're right, this _does_ sound crazy." Adam cleared his throat. "But, the thing is, the creature who killed my mother did so because it was after me. It wanted to "stop me from fulfilling my destiny"." He stared at Chloe. "I didn't understand it at the time, but now I do. It didn't want me to kill you."

Chloe's eyes widened. "_What_?"

Adam groaned and ran his hand over his head. "It's all _my_ fault. What happened to her is _my_ fault! I become some evil, murdering asshole and because of that—!"

"The future can change! Don't you get that?" Chloe moved from the chair to the bed. "I'm here, helping you, because you _can_ change. That future doesn't have to be ours!"

"How can you _say_ that?" He snapped at her.

"You can make yourself unfit for the role of Michaelsword," she whispered. "Dean did. We're still not sure _how_, but he did. And that means that _you can too_. **This **is why I was sent to the alternate timeline. So that I could stop it from happening."

"Yeah, you can," he agreed. "You can kill me."

She hadn't meant to slap him, but the sound echoed loud in the darkness of her room.

Adam's eyes were wide in shock as he brought his hand to his cheek.

"_No one_ is going to _die_." She glared at him. "Not you, not me, not Dean, Sam, Lois, Jess—_no one_." She took in a deep breath. "I've already lost a friend to this war, and I will not lose anyone else. So you're just going to have to buck up and help me save you whether you want me to or not."

Adam stared down at her and let let out a soft chuckle as he rubbed his cheek. "Sam or Dean?"

She blinked, confused. "Huh?"

"Your boyfriend, it has to be either Sam or Dean." He seemed sure about that.

She licked her lips. "It's not _official_ or anything, but, uh, it's Dean." She smiled at the sound of his name. "It's always been Dean."

Adam eyed her and then shook his head as he let out a dark chuckle. "I'm envious. He's a lucky guy."

"You tell him that when you meet him." She grinned.

Adam nodded. "I will."

As they smiled at each other, Chloe somehow knew that everything was going to be okay.

* * *

><p>"Why are you so worried about Dean heading to the asylum to pick Chloe up?" Lois wanted to know as she eyed the speeding man.<p>

John never answered, merely pressed down harder on the accelerator.

* * *

><p>"So, my dad knows about this supernatural stuff?" Adam's voice was soft.<p>

"Not about everything I've just told _you_, but yeah, he has a good handle on the supernatural." Chloe, back on the chair, gazed around them at the shadows.

"I can't believe this." Adam sounded hurt. "He spent so much time telling me that I couldn't have seen what I had - that it was my mind playing tricks - that monsters don't exist. And then he convinces me to intern myself here voluntarily so I can 'get the help that I need'!"

"I will never understand the way your father's mind works, but I do know that there's supposed to be some sort of protection over this place so that people can't find you, even if they are using magic to do so," Chloe admitted. "He should've told you the truth, and he's going to be so pissed at me when he finds out that I have, but in his own way he was trying to protect you."

"If he wanted to protect me he should've told me the truth." Adam's voice was hard. "You're a stranger and you've been more truthful to me tonight than he'd been my whole life. What if I'd been brainwashed into believing this shit? When that thing attacked again I'd be defenseless and telling myself, while I'm being eaten alive, that it isn't really happening!"

Chloe sighed. "How did you escape it the first time?"

"I hid in my room." He sounded so horribly disgusted with himself. "I was so terrified-. I hate myself for it, so much, but I was so scared I couldn't move, and—it couldn't come into my room. I don't know why."

Chloe had a good idea. "Your father must've warded your room, protected it."

"If he did, he didn't protect the house - or my mother's room, and I'll never forgive him for that."

"I'm not here to turn you against your father, Adam." She narrowed her eyes. "I just think that we can't begin any sort of friendship if we're not a hundred per cent truthful with each other."

"You have no idea how much I appreciate that."

* * *

><p>She wasn't picking up her phone.<p>

Dean growled as he gazed at the road ahead of him. They had a fixed time to call each other and the only reason she wouldn't answer was because something was up. Maybe one of those psychos in the loony bin had attacked her again. Or maybe one of the orderlies. Or maybe his psycho half-brother had just friggin started the apocalypse by running her through with a butterknife. All Dean knew was that it'd been wrong to be separated from her. How was he supposed to help her, protect her, if he was so far away?

"I do not understand you humans."

At the unexpected sound in the passenger's seat, Dean dropped the phone and yanked his gun free, pointing it at the man now riding shotgun. "Who the hell are you and what the hell do you want?"

"Help me understand," the man declared as he eyed him as if fascinated. "Why would you go against your destiny? Why would Lois Lane fight the perfect life we gave her? Why did the Asset crack the soulmate symbols we placed on her heart and thus ignore her soulmate in favor of the man who should've killed her? _Why_?"

Dean stepped hard on the breaks, and it was a good thing there was no traffic behind them because they came to a screeching stop in the middle of the highway. "_You_ placed the soulmate symbols? _You_ made Wade her—?"

"You had made yourself unfit, and given the timeline, and the fact that your brother might not even survive to meet her, there needed to be a backup. She needed to be paired off with Wade Mahaney, who was the right man to help her conceive the new Michaelsword and the Luciferblade. It has always been this way with the Asset." The man tilted his head. "Just like your mother and John Winchester."

It was a kick in the gut to find out that the only reason his parents had been together had been because of supernatural meddling.

"I do not understand humanity, or why it does what it does… but watching your group… it makes me wish that I did."

Dean's eyes narrowed on this guy. "What are you?"

The man blinked, as if surprised to be asked. "I am Castiel, angel of the Lord."

Dean's eyes widened. Castiel. Chloe had mentioned this name! Castiel was the angel who'd sided with them over heaven in the other reality! "I see." He cleared his throat and put away his weapon. "I don't have time to just sit down and tell you stuff, so you'll have to stick around if you want any questions answered."

Castiel tilted his head to the side. "I can agree to this arrangement. I have many questions."

Dean sighed. "_Great_." With a groan he pressed on the accelerator and got back on the road.

* * *

><p>Adam had finally fallen asleep, and while Chloe was sleepy as well, she stayed awake and scanned the darkness around her, her hand on the towel in case she needed to pull the Archangel blade out at a moment's notice. For the first couple of hours there was nothing, and then suddenly she saw it. Shadows mixed to form a figure which hovered over Adam on the bed, a demonic-looking mask covering its face.<p>

In seconds she had the Archangel blade in her hand and was by the bed, training the blade to the creature. "Get the hell away from him!"

The shadow-being turned to face her the same time Adam woke up, eyes wide in horror. The creature drifted off to the ground and merely stared at Chloe.

"What are you and why are you killing the people here?" Chloe hissed as she held her ground.

"_Killing them_?" A shocked voice asked as a hand went to the mask and pulled it off to reveal a pretty girl with straight black hair and blacker eyes. "I'm not _killing_ them. I'm trying to _save_ them!"

Chloe and Adam blinked in surprise. This was definitely not what they'd expected.

"I've been protecting, _shielding_, everyone in these walls, making sure that what happened to me doesn't happen to them, and yet there's something going on here." The girl frowned as she looked between Chloe and Adam. "Ever since that patient went crazy and massacred the others last year something dark's taken over, hovering over certain patients. I try to keep an eye on the ones it lingers around, try to stop whatever is happening, but I can't!" She looked horribly frustrated.

"So the times that Karen and Grant and Adam have seen you—," Chloe's eyes widened.

"I've been trying to _protect_ them." She looked insulted. "Why does everything think I'm _evil_? Is it the kabuki mask?"

"It, uh, _is_ kinda creepy." Adam finally spoke, his voice wavering.

She sighed. "I _have_ to wear it. Otherwise I'll be recognized."

"By who?" Chloe wanted to know.

But the girl didn't answer, instead she stared at Chloe and then gasped. "_Maddie_?"

Chloe's eyes widened. "You knew Madelyn?"

The girl blinked, confused. "You're not Madelyn?" She then frowned. "No. You have green eyes. Right. Madelyn has the family eyes."

"The family—?" Chloe felt her heart skip a beat. "You're a Dalakis."

"You _are_ family." The girl grinned brightly and looked close to crying. "You have no idea how happy I am to meet you! Is Madelyn your mother? Is she well? She was always my favorite cousin." She leaned close. "As you know, our family can be a bit… _odd_… to say the least."

"My father's Viktor," Chloe whispered, shocked numb as the hand which held her weapon hung limply at her side.

"_Blech_." The girl made a face. "No offense, but I was hoping that that wasn't the case."

Chloe took in a stuttered breath. "How did you die?"

"She's a _ghost_?" Adam turned to Chloe in shock.

"Wasn't it obvious?" Both girls asked before they turned to look at each other.

He flushed, embarrassed.

The girl grinned at Chloe. "What's your name, cousin?"

Chloe took in a deep breath. "Chloe."

"That's not family name." The girl tilted her head. "I'm Lenore, and I've been the guardian of these grounds for, uh, I think fifteen years now. I'm not sure though." She made a face. "Time moves differently when you're dead."

"I need to sit down." Adam did just that.

"So, this darkness you mentioned…" Chloe prompted.

"Right!" Lenore smiled. "You can help me! I can't do most of what I could alive, I mean, being able to phantomfy myself was a big enough deal given the fact that I was never the strongest in our clan, but, well, now that you're here you need to help me. I need this darkness gone. My charges come here to get better, not to be preyed upon by whatever that is."

"How can I help?" Chloe wanted to know.

"Well, weaving would be a good start."

Chloe blinked. "Huh?"

Lenore blinked as well. "You don't know how to weave?"

"Like, a basket?" Chloe wanted to know.

Lenore's eyes widened. "How do you not know what weaving is? It's fundamental!"

"I wasn't exactly _raised_ by the family."

Further confusion filled Lenore's face. "Why would Viktor allow his child to be raised outside of the family's embrace?" Her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh… I see." She cleared her throat. "Well, fine. You can still help me. You've got high-up Dalakis blood in you." She took in a deep breath. "Maybe the Archangel blade will help." She grinned. "You'll _have_ to tell me how you bound yourself to one." She suddenly frowned. "It's back. It's close." She turned to the others. "Come! Now!" And with that she phased through the door.

Chloe turned to Adam. "You should stay—."

"I'm coming too." Adam stood, eyes narrowed. "I'm not hiding anymore."

Taking in a deep breath, Chloe nodded and opened the bedroom door.

* * *

><p>"You <em>tested<em> the Unblood?" Viktor stormed into the room, fury in his every movement as he slammed the door behind him and moved towards the woman seated before the fire.

"What I choose to do is of no consequence to you." Hannah Dalakis stared into the fire.

"He is an Unblood!" Viktor slammed his hands down on the table. "I will not allow you to consider admitting him into the fold!"

The room darkened as she turned to face him, expression terrifying. "You will not _allow_ me? Viktor?"

He wouldn't back down, his own expression terrifying. "She will return to the embrace of her blood, and the Unblood will be disposed of!"

"He is strong, and dedicated, and a specially chosen vessel." Hannah raised an eyebrow. "He is also the one that your daughter wants. If you were only smart enough to look passed your own… You'd see that the best chance we have of that girl being here of her own free will is if the Unblood is embraced."

"He will _never_ be embraced." Disgust dripped from his voice. "Old age has made you senile, mother. If you think that any of the others will allow this—."

"_I _am the matriarch of this clan, and what _I_ say goes." She moved towards her son, the shadows in the room pulsating. "As long as I live this clan will do _exactly_ as I say they will. If you do not like it, then you are welcomed to try and kill me once more." She raised her chin as she stared into his furious eyes. "But you know that that is a sure way of destroying not only your family, but yourself."

A snarl escaped his lips. "You are not immortal, mother. You're time is drawing to an end."

"And what future will this clan face if your daughter is not ready and _willing_ to take Madelyn's place?" Hannah's eyes blackened as the shadows pushed Viktor away. "This whole situation is _your_ fault, boy. I am cleaning after _your_ mess, like I _always_ have. And I will do so as I see fit."

* * *

><p>Rushing down the hall after Lenore, Chloe's mind was a blur of questions she didn't have time to ask. The ghost was rapid, as expected, and it took the humans all their energy to keep up with her as she swished through the hallways before finally stopping in front of a room and phasing through the door.<p>

Chloe reached for the doorknob and opened it.

Adam's eyes widened. "Oh my god."

There, levitating, was Harriet. Her eyes were wide and her face paler than usual as she gasped for air. In front of her, holding her up by her throat, was someone Chloe recognized.

"_Jimmy_?" Adam's voice whispered in horror.

Jimmy turned towards them, his eyes glowing red as he held his hand out towards them.

Chloe and Adam cried out as they were yanked into the room, and the door slamming shut behind them.

"Wait, you _know_ the darkness?" Lenore asked in confusion. She kept trying to get closer but seemed to be repelled back with each try.

"He's a patient," Adam whispered. "He's been here since before I arrived."

"I know each and every patient here." Lenore shook her head. "He is _no_ patient!"

Jimmy, whatever he truly was, must've taken on the appearance of a patient so he could mingle with the others and scope out his targets.

"What do we have here?" Jimmy snickered as he eyed them. "Oh, the pain I can feel from you two is _delicious_. Your combined guilt _alone_ will fill me for _weeks_." He dropped Harriet, who went limp on the ground, and turned towards them. With one flick of his hand, Lenore cried as she was thrown through the wall and disappeared. "What a delectable scent the two of you have. When Adam arrived I knew he was special, and yet the scent of you together…" he grinned. "The horrors you two have seen… been through… you make me _salivate_." He licked his lips. "I was going to let you two stew a little longer. After I finished Harriet I was to make it my mission to help your fear, your guilt and every dark emotion grow within you, fester, but you two have twisted my arm." He chuckled. "Oh well."

"What are you?" Chloe asked, the Archangel blade hidden behind her.

"I don't like it when lunch talks back." Jimmy held a palm towards her and then closed it into a fist.

Chloe gasped for air as she began to levitate in the air. She kicked with her feet, and slashed with her blade, but nothing she did got her free, or helped her breathe. Spots began to dance in her vision as she was levitated towards Jimmy.

"Let her go!" Adam yelled as he barreled into Jimmy, sending them both to the ground.

Jimmy's hold on Chloe disappeared and she collapsed to the ground, coughing and gulping for breath as Jimmy pinned Adam beneath him and gripped his neck. Jimmy chuckled as he took in a deep whiff of Adam's scent. "So _gooood_."

Struggling to her feet, Chloe lifted the Archangel blade only for Jimmy to swing a hand out towards her and fling the blade out of her hand so hard it embedded itself into the wall behind them.

Jimmy laughed and shook his finger at her. "_Tsk tsk tsk_. Naughty naughty." With a swish of his hand he sent Adam flying into a wall, and in the blink of an eye Chloe was in the air once more, grabbing at her neck and desperately trying to breathe as Jimmy approached her. She reached behind her, desperate. She knew the wall was far away from her, and the blade out of reach, but she couldn't give up - _wouldn't_. Maybe if she reached hard enough she could somehow…

Adam appeared behind Jimmy and twisted his arms behind him painfully. "I said leave her alone!"

Suddenly the cool feeling of her blade appeared in her hand, and Chloe didn't question how it was there. She swung and buried the blade deep within Jimmy's heart. He stared at her, eyes wide in horror as he lit up from within and then exploded in darkness.

Chloe fell to her bottom on the floor, while Adam collapsed to his knees.

Both blondes stared at each other as they took in deep breaths.

"Thanks," Chloe whispered.

Adam chuckled as he coughed. "Anytime."

Lenore stuck her head through the wall. "The darkness… It's gone!" She eyed them curiously. "Why are you guys sitting on the ground?"

Adam and Chloe shared a look before they grinned and laughed.

Still on the floor, unconscious, Harriet snored.

* * *

><p><strong>TBC<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Don't own Smallville/Supernatural**

**Veronica - I have one question for you: ARE. YOU. PSYCHIC?**

* * *

><p>When Lois and John arrived, John manhandled his way into the common room despite the fact that it wasn't a "visitation day" (which the receptionist kept telling him as he trailed after them). Lois didn't know what John was up to, but his worry, his wide-eyed franticness, froze in his face as they entered the common room. It was early morning but there were still a few of the patients stumbling along. But they weren't who John was looking at. Lois followed his gaze to find Chloe sleeping on a sofa next to a handsome young blonde male, who was sleeping seated up with his back against the sofa she rested on. It was obvious that they'd fallen asleep talking.<p>

A smile lit Lois' face. Chloe had found a _boy_. How adorable was this? The guy was very attractive, with blonde hair and tanned skin, and a light dusting of freckles on his face.

Amused, Lois moved towards them and ignored John's call for her as she shook her cousin awake. "Wakey wakey."

Chloe's eyes flew open, and for a minute she looked worried, and then her expression morphed into confusion. "_Lois_?"

"Hey Baby Cuz." Lois smiled and hugged the girl. "Who is the cutie?"

"Adam?" Chloe asked in confusion as she pulled away.

Adam woke up with a yawn and then blinked when he saw Lois. "Uh, hi."

"Hey." She smiled at him. He had blue eyes and he was just adorable. Now this was the type of boy she'd always seen Chloe with. Sure, he looked about eighteen, so he was a little older than her, and he _was_ in an asylum, but she trusted her cousin not to fall for an axe murderer. "I'm Lois Lane, and you are?"

"Uh, Adam, uh, Milligan." He blushed darkly as he shook the hand she offered.

Adorable. Simply adorable. She approved!

"_Adam_." John's voice was odd.

Adam's features shifted darkly as he looked towards the man. "_Father_."

Lois' eyes widened in shock. John Winchester had another kid? _Are you kidding me_? This was completely out of the blue! And yet… as she stared at Chloe… she realized that the blonde had already known this.

Adam turned to look at Chloe, a strange expression in his blues.

Chloe reached out and squeezed his shoulder. She _willingly_ touched this boy, and comforted him. "You have this."

He reached out and patted her hand. "Thanks. I do."

As Adam stood and went towards his father, Lois slipped onto the edge of the sofa and grinned. This was the first time ever she'd be able to tease her cousin about a boy and she was going to make sure the girl suffered. This was so close to normalcy, to what a teen girl should go through, that Lois felt giddy. Her cousin was getting back to a normal life. Dean's parenting had seriously changed something inside of her cousin, and Lois would forever be grateful to him for that. "So?"

"So what?" Chloe seemed confused as she tore her gaze from Adam and John and turned those greens on the brunette.

"Don't play coy with me, missy." Lois grinned and nudged her shoulder into Chloe's. "There's so much _vibage_ between you two it's insane!"

"Vibage?" Chloe made a face. "Between me and _Adam_?"

"Yes, it was so cute." Lois grinned brightly. "And, considering he's John's son, well, Adam's basically an age-appropriate Dean. You have my total blessing to finally dig into the Winchester family tree."

A strange expression covered Chloe's face, almost like she was horrified.

"You're trying to force me to leave just so that you can hide me from the rest of my family!" Adam snapped loudly at John. "You didn't even tell me I had brothers! How could you do that to me?"

Lois turned to look at the drama unfurling before her with a sigh. John needed to be more understanding of the situation. Of course Adam was going to freak out like this. He had _brothers_ for crying out loud! And why exactly was Adam here to begin with? Had John stashed him here so he could take care of the Moira situation, or had he been here all along? Was there a reason why John hadn't let his two worlds collide?

"I can't explain everything now, but—." John froze.

Lois followed his gaze and saw Dean Winchester had also forced his way through, and the receptionist looked about to have a nervous breakdown. Lois had a feeling that the only reason the security guards hadn't hauled Dean away was because he looked like he'd been through a trainwreck and not a car accident. His hazels narrowed on his father and Adam - almost as if he _knew_ - and then they shifted onto her… and then onto Chloe. Something changed in his expression as he moved towards them.

The brunette stood. "Well, it was about time that you—."

Dean moved passed her and yanked Chloe up so that she was standing on the sofa. "Are you okay?"

"_Dean_?" Chloe's eyes were wide in shock as Dean patted her down, looking for injuries. "What are you doing here?"

"There's an ambulance outside," Dean's voice was horribly gruff. "Did that girl who attacked you—"

Lois' eyes widened. Someone had attacked Chloe?

"—try something again?" Dean's eyes narrowed.

"No, she—Karen's dead, Dean." Chloe framed his face. "But that happened yesterday. The ambulance is probably on standby. They had to take one of the girls here to the hospital to be checked out, Adam and I as well. We all only got back, but I think they're keeping someone here just in case something happens - which it won't."

Lois opened her mouth to ask why Chloe had been in the hospital. Was she hurt?

"Are you hurt?" Dean's large hands framed Chloe's face, much like her smaller ones had his. "Who touched you?"

"The person's gone, Dean. Adam helped me. We stopped him." Chloe smiled into Dean's face. "I'm so happy to see you."

The muscles in his arms tightened. "Do you know how much I've worried about you?" Dean's voice was hoarse.

Lois opened her mouth to tell him that, while she appreciated his worry, Chloe was obviously fine and didn't need to be crowded. She also wanted to mention Adam to Dean, wanted someone to join her cause and tease Chloe like every older sibling should.

"Wade wasn't really your soulmate." Dean's words confused Lois into silence. "You wouldn't believe the driving companion I've had, Chlo."

"What are you talking about?" Chloe stared at Dean in confusion. "Spencer said—."

"Heaven _put_ those matching soulmate symbols because they wanted to force you to be with Wade." Dean smiled. "They wanted you to be with him because he would be able to father the future Michaelsword and Luciferblade. That's all. And they only put those symbols there because of _us_."

Her eyes widened. "Who told you all of this?"

Lois felt, oddly, like they'd forgotten she was there - that they'd forgotten _everyone_ was here. There was an intensity in which they looked at each other, touched each other, that suddenly had her very much on edge.

"Would you believe me if I said _Castiel_ did?"

Wait, wasn't that the name of the angel Chloe had said was in the alternate timeline?

Chloe's eyes widened. "He's made contact?"

Dean nodded. "We spent the whole drive together. He taxed my patience but I can see why you liked him."

Chloe smiled brightly.

Dean's thumb brushed against her cheek. "I've missed seeing that smile."

Chloe's smile grew as she leaned into his touch.

And then, with a hissed curse, Dean Winchester floored Lois Lane as he brought Chloe Sullivan to him in a deep, desperate kiss. This wasn't a peck on the cheek or nose or even lips. No. There was nothing brotherly about this. In fact, Dean looked like he was going to _consume_ her baby cousin. Chloe whimpered and flung her arms around his neck, pulling him in closer and slipping her fingers through his hair.

Around that time Lois' mouth fell open.

"So, that's the boyfriend," Adam declared. "So that means he's my brother, _Dean_."

Lois' eyes widened as she turned and hurried towards Adam. "_Boyfriend_?"

"You didn't know?" Adam asked curiously before he flinched. "Oops. My bad."

"_Boyfriend_?!" Lois felt whoozy.

Adam, obviously worried, grabbed her arms to steady her.

"How could you be with them all this time and not realize it?" John huffed from behind them. "She's his damned eyeballs."

Lois turned to look at the couple as they kissed as if they were the only ones in the world, and she decided she needed some alcohol, posthaste.

* * *

><p>"Lois is still in shock," Chloe whispered. Lois was in the front, talking to Adam, who'd left the asylum with them. He hadn't gone with his father, as John had wanted, and had instead taken the front passenger seat and helped Chloe by keeping Lois busy.<p>

"Yeah." Dean whispered back, seated next to her in the back seat of the Impala, in pain due to the meds wearing off. "That wasn't my smoothest move, but hell, I couldn't take it any longer. She had to know." He wrapped an arm around Chloe's shoulders. "We should've told her that day at the hospital, it's my fault, but we're going to find a way to work through this. You're not going anywhere ever again."

A smile touched her lips as she burrowed into him and closed her eyes. "I love you."

He closed his eyes and smiled softly. "I love you too."

* * *

><p>Lois stared through her rearview mirror at the two asleep in the back and frowned. Dear god, how <em> had<em> she been so blind? They were _such_ a couple! And Dean's actions should've clued her in sooner! She knew why they hadn't told her, and it pissed her off. Chloe was so young! She needed a guy like Adam! Not a guy as old as Dean! And yet… Lois had never seen her cousin the way she was with Dean. She was happy and comfortable and looked like she felt _safe_. Lois had never known Chloe to feel safe.

_I AM SO CONFLICTED, DAMN IT!_

"They seem really in love." Adam sent them a look before he returned his gaze to the road. "You obviously don't approve though."

"He's older than _I_ am," she grumbled.

"You think he's taking advantage of her?" Adam asked curiously.

"Dean? No, but—." She sighed. "I don't know _what_ I think right now."

"Then why don't you _not_ make a decision right now then?" He asked. "Watch them. With a cool head. And see what you feel afterwards. That way you won't regret any extreme decision made under extreme emotion."

Lois eyed Adam with narrowed eyes. "You're kinda smart for a kid."

"I am _not_ a kid! I'm nineteen!"

"Really? You look younger."

He pouted and huffed as he looked out of the window.

Amused, Lois smirked and continued driving.

* * *

><p>Dr Volchek gazed out of the window long after John Winchester had driven away in his truck, and a Chevy Impala had taken away both Chloe and Mr Milligan. He wished that he could've had a longer time with the both of them, he was sure that he'd have been able to help them both. But they'd self-interned themselves, and the policy was that those who entered willingly, left willingly. Plus, there was cleanup to do. The mystery behind what had happened to his patients was finally solved, at least somewhat. He doubted this "Jimmy" character had been able to enter the establishment and do what he had on his own. His appearance was obviously tied to Henry Porter going insane and murdering everyone - but how exactly did it tie in?<p>

"I can't believe I never realized that Jimmy was the one I was looking for - that he wasn't just some dorky patient. He was right there in front of me, and I never saw passed his disguise. Hell - I _bullied_ him!" Harriet sat on the chair opposite his desk, a pout on her face.

"I cannot believe that there was some sort of malicious entity in _my_ establishment, preying on _my_ patients." Dr Volchek's eyes narrowed. "How he managed to show himself to you all - and yet keep hidden from the faculty..." He sighed. "This is most troubling."

"At least he didn't laugh in _your_ face." Harriet's eyes narrowed. "Not only was he playing me, and totally outpowered me, but I was saved by a _Halfblood_."

"She's not just a Halfblood." Dr Volchek's gaze shifted to her reflection in the window. "She's the Matriarch's direct descendant. She's the first in line to succeed."

"You mean the _only_ in line to succeed." A muscle jumped in Harriet's cheek.

"Viktor could have another daughter," Dr Volchek reminded.

Harriet snorted. "Who would give it to him?"

"If it meant being the mother of the potential future matriarch? Any unmarried Dalakis would." Dr Volchek finally turned to look at her. "What did you think of her?"

"She looks like Aunt Madelyn, a lot." Harriet sighed as she leaned back. "It really put me on edge with her." Her eyes narrowed. "What did _you_ think about her?"

"I think she's fascinating," he replied truthfully.

"She's got _spunk_." Harriet looked like she hated admitting that. "She might look like Aunt Madelyn, but she's not weak like Aunt Madelyn was. I mean, she defeated whatever the hell Jimmy was. Sure, she had help from the Unblood, but I saw her eyes when she entered the room and saw "Jimmy"." Harriet paused and nibbled on her bottom lip in thought. "She wasn't going to leave until "Jimmy" was dead."

"Madelyn was never _weak_." He frowned. "She was powerful—."

"Oh please, spare me your inner fanboy monologue. She lacked the strength of will this girl has." Harriet glared. "She gave up and committed _suicide_. That is the biggest sign of weakness that a Dalakis could _ever_ show! This girl though? From what I've heard, she's done nothing but fight to stay alive. She's gone up against a denizen of creepy-crawly things and she's the one still standing, not them." She looked annoyed. "Halfblood or not, that girl might be exactly what the family needs."

"So why did you antagonize her?" He was intrigued.

"I already told you why." Harriet let out a huff. "She looks too much like Aunt Madelyn. It really creeps me out!" With a shiver she licked her lips and darted a glimpse to the side before those dark orbs returned to him. "On another note, I saw Aunt Lenore last night in the room during the attack. She was with the Halfblood and Unblood. I think she brought them there to destroy "Jimmy"."

His eyes widened. "You saw Lenore?"

"She had a kabuki mask on the top of her head. Really theatrical."

He collapsed on his seat. "I've heard rumors - but I've never seen her. Why hasn't she shown herself to me?"

"Um, you _did_ kill her, dad."

He let out a sigh. "There were circumstances and you know it."

"Whatever." Harriet rolled her eyes. "Now that that creep is gone and the patients are secure - can I hightail it out of here? I mean, spending time with you is great and all, but I've got an assignment due that I _really_ need to work on."

"Of course." He nodded and stood. "Call me when you're home so I know you've arrived at the compound safe and sound."

Rolling her eyes, Harriet saluted, and then, with a flash of darkness, was gone.

Sighing, Dr Volchek turned in his chair to stare at the portrait in his office of a pretty young woman and her younger brother - him. "Lenore, you're going to have to forgive me one of these years." He then turned and rose from his seat to stare out of the window once more.

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chloe, Interrupted<strong>


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